Johnny Benson (Right) and Kevin 'Cowboy' Starland (Left) shown at Martinsville Speedway in March of 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

And like the members of his organization, Almirola is hungry. The 26-year-old Tampa, Fla., native lost his Sprint Cup ride last season when Earnhardt Ganassi Racing shut down its No. 8 team, and spent the first part of 2010 in the start-and-park Phoenix Racing car before deciding to devote his full effort to the Truck series.

After a solid part-time run last season for BBM, Almirola was Ballew's natural pick to succeed Busch this year.

And with Almirola at the helm and primary sponsorship from Graceway Pharmaceuticals, the No. 51 truck hasn’t missed a beat.

“To be honest, I think we’ve had the most successful year that we’ve had, if you look at all the facts and the changes and everything that basically started out from not really starting over, you wouldn’t say, but from losing a driver that had drove with us and raced with Richie (Wauters) and those guys for five years,” Ballew said. “I thought that we would be fine but the guys have really stepped up to the plate, Aric’s done a tremendous job. Him and Richie are second in the points right now, we’ve already won two races and that’s basically what we’d achieved up to this point last year with Kyle. So it don’t seem to have hindered us any. Kyle is a phenomenal race car driver, but Aric’s really stepped up to the plate and done a tremendous job.”

Any talks of Busch’s departure, along with the loss of long-time sponsor Miccosukee Resort and Gaming, spelling doom for BBM only served as extra motivation for the principals left behind.

“The driver, Kyle Busch, is great to have but if you ain’t got something to ride, it don’t matter how good the driver is - Kyle will tell you that himself,” said Wauters, who serves as general manager along with his role as crew chief for Almirola. "You’ve still got to have chemistry and you’ve still got to have good equipment. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure on us to show that we could win with another driver and we’ve proved that we can do that.”

And the No. 15 truck, led by first-year BBM pit boss Kevin Starland, hasn’t been far behind. Despite operating on a race-by-race sponsorship situation, Ballew’s second team has produced positive results. Wallace and Benson both have top-fives while Piquet Jr., a former Formula One driver, has a pair of top-10s.

“Those guys have really, really done a tremendous job of having that thing seventh in owners points after unfortunately getting in a wreck at Daytona and finishing dead last,” Ballew said. “That’s as close as we’ve had them both together in the points in a long time and it’s been with drivers in the 15 truck ... with not a lot of experience."

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Wallace will be in the truck this weekend at Iowa with at least two more drivers – Cup star Denny Hamlin and 18-year-old Johanna Long – set to make upcoming appearances.

Hamlin will drive in the inaugural Truck race at Pocono July 31 while Long is slated to make at least three starts, beginning at O’Reilly Raceway Park on July 23.

Meanwhile, the sponsorship search continues even on the top-performing No. 51 – which lacks primary backing in five remaining races.

Ballew, however, remains upbeat.

“I believe in my people,” he said. “I know that they can do the job. It’s just having the funding to be able to give them the tools to do it with.”